Automotive OPEN Alliance SIG Shifts into High Gear

World's Leading Technologists Partner to Enable Gigabit Speeds in the Connected Car

DETROIT -- Dec. 10, 2014: The OPEN Alliance (One-Pair EtherNet) Special Interest Group (SIG), a non-profit industry alliance established to drive wide scale adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity, today announced the formation of several new technical committees (TCs). This includes TCs focused on refining automotive xMII interfaces, enabling Gigabit automotive Ethernet over Plastic Optical Fiber (POF), defining tests for one-pair Ethernet Electronic Control Units (ECUs) and specifying channel components for Gigabit copper Ethernet.

Membership in the automotive OPEN Alliance SIG has grown 40x since its inception just three years ago, with representation from nearly 250 of the world's leading automakers, tier ones and technology companies working together to drive rapid adoption of automotive Ethernet. For more information visit Open Sig.

The OPEN Alliance SIG has played a key role in establishing automotive Ethernet as the connectivity technology of choice for the next generation of cars. Serving as the car's network backbone, automotive Ethernet technology enables the deployment of advanced safety and infotainment features beyond the luxury class, meeting growing consumer demand for a truly connected experience on-the-go. By the end of the decade, analyst firm Frost & Sullivan expects the number of automotive Ethernet nodes to rise, exceeding 100 nodes in luxury cars and 50-60 nodes in cars sold to the mass market1.

"As a result of the collective efforts of the OPEN Alliance, Ethernet-based automotive connectivity has gained sharp momentum in just a few short years," said Natalie A. Wienckowski, General Motors' Architect - Electronics Hardware Global Lead and OPEN Alliance SIG Chair. "By aligning our efforts with those of the IEEE, we expect this remarkable momentum to continue as we push the boundaries of the connected car to Gigabit and beyond."

At its recent face-to-face meeting in Detroit, representatives from more than 120 member companies met to align on strategy and the formation of new technical committees optimized to address interoperability challenges and align the activities of the OPEN Alliance with the efforts of the IEEE. The OPEN Alliance plans to publicly release a number of specifications this year, including physical layer transceiver (PHY) qualification, PHY interoperability, CMC EMC requirements, channel requirements and others. Specifics on each of the eight technical committees can be viewed on the OPEN Alliance SIG website.